The Twins announced a series of roster moves today, with infielder Jorge Polanco reinstated from the injured list and right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson recalled from Triple-A. In corresponding moves, righty Jorge Alcalá and infielder Edouard Julien were optioned to Triple-A. The Polanco-Julien swap was reported by Twins Farm Report on Twitter prior to the official club announcement.
Polanco, 29, is in tonight’s lineup, batting fifth and playing second base. This will be his first major league game since August of last year. He was placed on the injured list in early September due to left knee inflammation and wasn’t able to return. As this year’s Spring Training ramped up, everything seemed aligned for him to make the Opening Day roster, but he was eventually slowed down in the middle of March with what chief baseball officer Derek Falvey called “normal soreness.” That ultimate led to an IL-placement on Opening Day, but he’ll now slot back into the Minnesota lineup for the first time in almost eight months.
He began his career as a shortstop and didn’t get especially strong marks for his glovework but showed encouraging offensive abilities. By the end of 2018, he had appeared in 288 games and struck out in just 16.2% of his plate appearances while demonstrating a bit of power with 23 home runs. His .272/.329/.420 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 100, indicating he was exactly league average in that time.
The Twins clearly believed that Polanco would grow into something more, as they then signed him to a five-year, $25.75MM extension with a couple of club options. Polanco has since proved them right, hitting 75 home runs over the past four seasons, one of which was the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. His .270/.337/.459 line in that time amounts to a wRC+ of 117. He’s since moved to second base in deference to stronger shortstop defenders like Andrelton Simmons and Carlos Correa.
Polanco is now in the final guaranteed season of that extension, though it seems likely that those options will be picked up. The 2024 option is valued at $10.5MM with a $1MM buyout, making it a net $9.5MM decision. The 2025 option is worth $12.5MM with a $750K buyout, making it a net $11.75MM decision. Those are reasonable salaries for a potent bat at an up-the-middle position.
While Polanco has been out of action this year, most of the playing time at second base has gone to Julien, Nick Gordon and Kyle Farmer. Julien will now go back to the minors to get regular work down there. Farmer went on the IL last week after getting hit in the face by a fastball from Lucas Giolito. Though the incident looked quite scary on the broadcast, Farmer managed to avoid any fractures and was mostly limited to dental injuries. He told Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press today that he still has to get four root canals next week but has started doing baseball activities like hitting off a tee and taking ground balls.
“Still has to get 4 root canals…”
That hurt just reading it!
SO the Twins lose a semi-regular leaving them thin at 3 different positions . Farmer gets smacked in the face by an errant thrown pitch and now has to endure FOUR ROOT CANALS where there had not been damage previously..
What is the cost to the White Sox? “S-O-R-R-Y, Just part of the game….”
What is the cost to Lucas Giolito?? “S-O-R-R-Y, Just part of the game….”
The LEAGUE needs to correct this injustice ASAP !!
AND, yes, I do know the pitched ball was not intentional.
Giolito should have been IMMEDIATELY EJECTED from the game AND been suspended for the same amount of time that Farmer is unable to play up to his normal capabilities..
That would be fair and just.
Except that Giolito could go and get 4 ROOT CANALS to truly make things equal….
Truly a terrible take. The pitch was clearly unintentional.
Maybe he didn’t want to hit him in the head. But he was definitely aiming high and tight. Most of these pitchers have way better control than to simply miss way up and in on accident.
I wouldn’t bet on his options at least with the twins just yet. Right now he’s probably looking over his shoulder at Royce Lewis and julien. The team has made some interesting moves recently. I could see if one of them takes off, Polanco might get the option money, but it could be just before a trade to another team.
Polanco has around 200 million reasons to test free agency if the Twins don’t pick up his club options.
AJ Preller? That you?
Polanco gets $100mm tops.
I agree with benhen77 that Polanco is not a star player who could possibly command anything remotely close to $200MM. He’s probably a 3.0 WAR player in a full season at 2B.
I’d guess he’d be maybe 4yrs and $50-60MM if he were a free agent and was healthy this past off season. If Polanco spends a significant time on the IL this year, I expect the Twins will trade or decline the options.
If he has another good season like 2021 he’ll get way more than $60 million.
@Hammerin’ Hank – Define “good” for you.
Last year Polanco put up 1.8 fWAR. Good for 17th of 32 2B with 400+ plate appearances. He was mediocre.
Polanco was very good in 2021, but that’s his career year. He was pretty poor in 2020 and good, but not great in 2019.
Considering Polanco’s injury history and the obvious concerns about his knee at this point, I just don’t see where anything short of a career year is going to see Polanco netting much more than $60MM.
Woods-Richardson, eh? I wonder if they’re going to have him pitch out of the bullpen?
Simeon Woods Richardson. Now there’s a pretentious name.